Hearing Scheduled In SCDEW Drama

AGENCY TO HEAR CASE INVOLVING NIKKI HALEY’S CABINET

Eight months ago this website reported on the saga surrounding Kerry Paul, a former high-ranking employee at the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW).

According to the agency, Paul was fired for stealing data. According to a lawsuit filed by Paul in the wake of her termination, the alleged data theft was a set-up – part of a conspiracy aimed at running her out of the troubled agency.

Additionally, Paul accused the administration of S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley of “intentionally misleading” S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigators as well as lying to state lawmakers tasked with oversight of the agency.

The drama could come to a head this month as the S.C. Human Resources Division – a division of the S.C. Budget and Control Board (SCBCB) – hears Paul’s grievance.

A hearing into the matter has been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday September 11 – and the five-member grievance panel has allotted two days to hear testimony. Not only that, sources tell FITS investigators and legislative staffers have been instructed to attend the hearing in an effort to determine if there is validity to the claims against Haley’s cabinet.

SCDEW has been led for the last year by Cheryl Stanton, a former New York City attorney.

Up until Stanton’s arrival in May 2013, SCDEW was arguable the worst managed agency in Haley’s cabinet … which is saying something. Its former director, Abraham Turner, resigned last February – just days after FITS exclusively reported about SCDEW doling out $54.5 million in “improper claims” in 2012.